China woos Asean with diplomatic upgrade in its relationship status
- Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosts his counterparts from the 10 member states and announces plan to elevate ties to highest level
- Boosts for pandemic cooperation and economic recovery promised, as well as progress on South China Sea code of conduct
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the plan following a meeting with his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Chongqing, southwestern China, on Monday.
“China has already established such relationships with individual nations of Asean. On this foundation, both sides can explore elevating China-Asean ties to comprehensive strategic partnership, showing that our relationship is forward looking and marking a new milestone on our cooperation,” Wang said, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Wang told the assembled foreign ministers that China would boost pandemic cooperation and work with Asean to boost economic recovery, while also pushing forward discussions for a code of conduct in the South China Sea.
“We are willing to strengthen dialogue and consultation with different parties in the South China Sea to properly manage differences and jointly maintain the overall stability of the South China Sea situation, and avoid unilateral actions that intensify conflicts,” he said.
Wang said China and Asean would step up joint research on vaccine production and procurement. He also made a veiled attack against the US. “Some countries have implemented quantitative easing policies without a bottom line, which hinders the orderly recovery and balanced development of the world economy.”